Hebrew University researchers take home four of the five Rothschild Prizes for 2012

Professor Gil Kalai, Einstein Institute of Mathematics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

At the Knesset on March 25, Lord Rothschild awarded the Rothschild Prize to five outstanding Israeli academics who have made exceptional contributions to their fields.

Four of the five recipients of this year’s Rothschild Prize are from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem:

Professor Haim Cedar, Edmund Safra Distinguished Professor, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, whose research on DNA methylation has fundamental implications for understanding the development of normal and diseased cells.

Raphael Mechoulam, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute for Drug Research, The Hebrew University, who was the first researcher to identify the chemical structure of THC – the biologically active component of the marijuana plant. His work has implications for controlling pain associated with multiple sclerosis and chemotherapy.

Professor Gil Kalai, Noskwith Professor of Mathematics, Einstein Institute of Mathematics, The Hebrew University, responsible for some of the most imaginative combinatorial and computer science results in the past twenty years, leading to discoveries in areas such as game theory and optimization.

Professor Moshe Idel, Professor Emeritus, Max Cooper Professor of Jewish Thought, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, who has transformed the study of Kabbalah, expanding on groundwork first laid by Professor Gershom Scholem.

Established by the Rothschild Family and Yad Hanadiv (the Rothschild Foundation), the prize has been awarded biennially for the past 53 years to Israeli scientists and researchers who have made exceptional contributions to their fields, as part of a tradition of the Foundation’s support for Academic Excellence in Israel.